Reliably Write

The first weekend in June heralded WordFest Toowoomba 2022. Hosted at “The Lighthouse”, a fabulous initiative by local Toowoomba “Child Writes” creative, Emma McTaggart, a wintery blast met exhibitors and attendees alike, sending hands diving for pockets of thick jackets and scarves winding tight about necks. All over, it was a modest but enthusiastic gathering.

The second year of the event offered an array of workshops catering to writers and readers across a range of genres. Other familiar faces were also in attendance (Nola Passmore and Jessica Kate). I was thrilled to be on the “Knowing your YA audience” panel with author Verity Croker and chair, Ben Tupas.

This cosy conversation explored (amongst other things) our written works, creative processes, and the topic of the moment: how to know and connect with a young adult audience in a way that is relevant and authentic. (Since, as Ben kindly highlighted, we were not exactly “young adults” anymore. 🤔🤨)

At the close of the session attendees were invited to ask questions. This led to a discussion about narration viewpoints and character/reader perceptions in the context of young, perhaps naïve, protagonists. In essence, an “unreliable narrator”.

“An unreliable narrator is a storyteller whose perspective isn’t totally reliable if we want to get the full picture or the whole truth.” ~ Kaelyn Barron

The unreliable narrator is an interesting concept and a well-used literary device. My personal leaning is that no viewpoint is ever truly reliable, and I too have made use of this technique in my stories to create tension between reader insights and the protagonist’s view of their life, values, goals and the realities they are yet to perceive, whilst challenging the reader’s own.

“Fiction that makes us question our own perceptions can be powerful. An unreliable narrator can create a lot of grey areas and blur the lines of reality, allowing us to come to our own conclusions.” ~ reedsyblog

Interestingly, this concept of “unreliable narration” lingered in my mind into the week—and not in the context of writing.

As Christians, we readily reference scripture and songs that remind us of who we are in Christ. But is it just me, or are there times when you also find yourself engaging the world in a way that conflicts with the new identity that has been placed upon us as redeemed children of Almighty God?

The longer I reflected on this, the more I was reminded of the importance of realigning our “self-narration” with our identity in Christ. For as anyone who has been a believer for more than five seconds knows, some days this is not at all how reality plays out. Just like our written characters, we can narrate our world with horrible unreliability.

In the face of rejection, we don’t always feel or act “beloved”. In the face of massive mess ups, we don’t necessarily feel “chosen”, “forgiven” or “the righteousness of Christ”. In the face of brutal failure, we may seem the opposite of “an overcomer”. When we’re hit with a gut-punch betrayal or loss, we don’t necessarily feel “unforsaken”. And yet all these things, and so much more, are still true when we place our hope in Christ and step into relationship with Him.

Because of Jesus’ life, sacrifice and resurrection, our identity in Him has already been validated. Yet so often we can wrestle with speaking, acting, and even thinking, in accordance with who HE says we are. The importance of spending time in the Word and prayer and building relationships with others who will encourage us in these truths becomes vital in this context. For as we grow in who we’re truly called to be and our self-perceptions become more aligned with our identity in Christ, this will allow us to “narrate” our identity in our world with increasing reliability.

Queensland author Adele Jones writes young adult fringe and near-science fiction exploring the underbelly of bioethics and confronting teen issues that include disability, self-worth, loss, domestic conflict, and more. She also writes historical fiction, poetry, inspirational non-fiction and short fictional works, with themes of social justice, humanity, faith, natural beauty and meaning in life’s journey. Adele’s first YA novel Integrate (book one of the Blaine Colton Trilogy) was awarded the 2013 CALEB Prize for unpublished manuscript. As a speaker she seeks to present a practical and encouraging message by drawing on themes from her writing. For more visit www.adelejonesauthor.com or contact@adelejonesauthor.com

CWD Member Interview – Claire Bell

 

Most Thursdays this year we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview: Claire Bell

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

1. I grew up in the Adelaide Hills but, like previous generations on both sides of my family, I was born in a different country (in my case, the UK).

2. I aim to live a ‘slow life’ – time to reflect, to live in the present, and to enjoy the extraordinary ordinary gifts of life. 

3. I’m hopeless at genres – identifying them and writing them. Which is ironic, as I once worked as an occupational taxonomist (i.e. assigning categories to the world of paid work).

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I have never been able to settle to one form of writing. I have so far published a YA novel (Evernow, published in March 2022) and a crossover novel (post-secondary teens). I made up a term to describe the genre: speculative realism, meaning that it’s realism with a twist in time or space.

I also write poetry, and occasionally short fiction, creative non-fiction, and devotional articles.

I write to work out what’s going on in my head and heart, and to try to integrate it with what’s going on in the world around me.

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

I was thrilled when a friend bought a copy of my first novel, read it on his way to Manus Island, and gave it to a refugee friend there. My second novel is also currently being read by a refugee friend who is settling into Canada after 8 years of detention in Australia. He quoted a favourite line to me recently and that made me think more about those words than all my editing had.

When writing cover letters to publishers who want to know whose my work is similar to, I struggle. Not working in recognised genres leaves my work out in left field! But I think it’s a bit like Brian Caswell’s early writing (Australian YA author of Meryll of the Stones and other great books) and I would love him to read it – and see if he can recognise any similarity.

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

I worked hard to develop a writing practice, and succeeded for a few years after completing a masters degree in creative writing. But I’ve lost that habit now, and my writing tends to be just one of many activities I attempt to weave into my eclectic days. 

Having a deadline helps me to prioritise writing. After a few challenging years with ageing parents and health issues, my recent novel was only completed because Mark Worthing of Stone Table Books pressed me to have it ready for publication. Competitions, anthology and writing journal deadlines help to keep me writing with purpose.

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

I read craft books when I have a writing problem. The one that most recently helped with plotting and pacing was Dara Marks’ Inside Story: the power of the transformational arc. It’s a screenwriting guide but I think the directness of film shifted me from being overly focused on the characters’ inner lives to create more outward action.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

Rosanne Hawke has been more influential in my writing journey than she realises. Not only her fabulous teaching, her highly enjoyable stories and her belief in me as a writer; Rosanne’s diligent writing practice has been an example and a goad. She’s like the Duracell bunny – she just keeps writing, keeps sharing her stories and herself with young readers, and keeps working to improve her skills. She’s my writing hero.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for this year? How will you achieve them?

My goal this year is to gather stories from my relatives about my larger-than-life grandmother, Mirabel Cobbold. It’s a labour of love as I don’t expect it to be published beyond family copies. But her story needs to be preserved for future generations as she shaped much of our family identity, which is shared across four continents.

How to gather those stories is a challenge. Given that almost all my relatives are not in Australia and I’m not able to travel to them any time soon, I’m trying to work out how to have the non-writers share their memories of Grannybelle. I’m thinking of creating an informal set of questions that might prompt anecdotes, and maybe try different media so those who want to talk rather than write can do so. I’m open to suggestions on how this might be achieved…

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

To be honest, I’m not really sure how it does. I assume that the way I relate to Jesus and feed myself spiritually becomes evident in every aspect of my life.  I write largely for the mainstream – that is, I don’t often write about faith or God – so I trust that as my values and thinking are being shaped by God, it shows. Occasionally someone says something to make me think that’s happening.

I put time into writing and seeking to publish because I think God has a reason for making me passionate about the written word. I see my role as pre-evangelistic: using story to help readers envisage love, integrity, hope and the spiritual side of human existence. That’s why I write speculative realism. 

Claire Bell writes as Claire Belberg for her mainstream works of fiction and poetry. She is the author of two speculative realism novels for young adults (Evernow) and older teens (The Golden Hour). She has had shorter work published in inScribe journal, inDaily (Adelaide’s independent digital news service), and various anthologies. Claire lives in the Adelaide Hills where the abundance of native birds is a constant delight. She blogs occasionally at The Character Forge. 

Write Amidst the Storm

 I need not remind Australians that for the majority of us, the past eighteen months have been a period unlike any other in our lives. That includes writers. Bookstores have been shut, many never to reopen. Sales have been down. Libraries have been closed, so no PLR. Publishers have been hit hard. Events have been cancelled, and re-cancelled. Gatherings have been forbidden by government edicts. Homes with children usually at school have been thrust into the realm of home schooling, and a pandemic of fear has seen panic buying and frenzied behaviour uncharacteristic of our usually “laid back” Aussie culture.

What’s a writer to do?

I know for a fact people have been very creative in their responses to this. Many have established online groups, often expanding their reach in innovative ways. (I’m talking to you, Tamika Spaulding, and your Tassie crew!) Others have managed to use this opportunity to get writing done and release more books. (I’ll confess a twinge of envy.) Others have got stuck into making promotional book videos (Meredith Resce). The list is impressively lengthy.

For myself, in addition to the whole “close the country” down thingy, I had my own “shut down” of sorts. This wasn’t as dramatic as it sounds and without boring you with details, essentially I had to pull back from pretty much everything I’d been involved with to that point—which was already reduced due to a crazy-busy three years preceding that. I’ve been gradually crawling out of my hole, but my productivity was downright lousy for most of 2020.

What can we do when writing gets hard? Here are a few tips from my “Top Ten Block Busters” presentation, shared at a recent visit with the Rose City Writers:

1) Embrace the season and cut yourself some slack:

Frustration is unhelpful and takes a lot of energy. Even social media can be exhausting during such periods, which makes promotion an even bigger mountain. Our goals might look completely unattainable. It’s okay to cut ourselves some slack and let things slide on occasion, but don’t give up the ideas that will occasionally filter in. Jot them down for another time, for seasons come and go. Swings and roundabouts, as my significant other would say.

2) Do what you can to keep the creative muscle alive:

It just happened that when this conundrum hit, a couple of Quirky Quills (our local writing group), Kirsten Hart and Nola Passmore, and I were regularly meeting to work through online writing development courses. Although things struck a bit of a snag, I already had accountability and something I could focus on to keep things creeping forward. Even when our meetings were sporadic and my motivation negative ten, we were still able to set little goals that were feeding our inner creative capabilities. And out of that, when an opportunity for a short story did arise, I was able to apply what we’d been working on and submit a short story to the recent “Crossed Spaces Anthology” released by Rhiza Edge Press.

Crossed Spaces Anthology, Rhiza Edge Press

 3) Something is better than nothing:

You’ve heard me say it before, but it’s true. Even ten minutes once a week will see you write more than nothing. And when those swings and roundabouts turn, you’ll have something to keep going with. This also gives you a chance to celebrate a little win here and there. And who knows, it might just turn into a submission opportunity when you least expect it.

So even if it your writing productivity currently feels like you’re swimming in a pond of slowly solidifying craft glue, be encouraged: seasons change and opportunity comes to us all. Eventually.

Queensland author Adele Jones writes young adult near-science fiction (that is, until reality catches up with her stories!) exploring the underbelly of bioethics and confronting teen issues that include disability, self-worth, loss, domestic conflict, and more. She also writes historical fiction, poetry, inspirational non-fiction and short fictional works, with themes of social justice, humanity, faith, natural beauty and meaning in life’s journey. Adele’s first YA novel Integrate (book one of the Blaine Colton Trilogy) was awarded the 2013 CALEB Prize for unpublished manuscript. As a speaker she seeks to present a practical and encouraging message by drawing on themes from her writing. For more visit www.adelejonesauthor.com or contact@adelejonesauthor.com